The Gauteng provincial government will get 70 percent of its goods and services from companies that comply with black economic empowerment regulations by just 2009, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said on Tuesday.

"All Gauteng provincial government departments and agencies will apply a preferential procurement policy when (obtaining) goods and services," Shilowa said at the launch of the Gauteng BEE (broad-based black economic empowerment) initiative.

This was part of the province's Growth and Development Strategy which reduced poverty from 30.4 percent in September 2001 to 22.8 percent in September 2005, said Shilowa.

He said some critics of BEE wanted a return to apartheid and dismissed them as "thinly disguised proponents of Verwoerdian ideology".

He said the market could not be left to correct historical imbalances on its own.

"The state has a responsibility and a clear mandate to use its considerable financial muscle to promote growth in the economy and reduce poverty and unemployment, in this particular case through the mechanism of BEE."

The strategy was also meant to ensure that, by 2009, the Gauteng government had 80 percent black people and 50 percent black women in management positions.

Other aspects of the plan included making sure that small and micro enterprises were paid within 15 days after relevant documents for tenders were received.

"We are well aware that SMMEs have experienced difficulties in doing work for government as they are not paid timeously," Shilowa acknowledged.

Tender specifications would be simplified and access to tender documents would also be improved.

Shilowa said the strategy was also intended to change "skewed land ownership". This included making it easier to own property in underdeveloped areas, through easier access to title deeds and formalising tenure and land use rights.

He called on the private sector and civil society to play their part in making sure that black people played a greater role in the economy.

Sapa

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